US negotiators scramble new Gaza ceasefire proposal
WASHINGTON/DOHA/CAIRO—The White House is scrambling to put forward a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas in the coming days, two US officials, two Egyptian security sources and an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The new proposal aims to work out the major sticking points behind a monthslong impasse in talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt seeking a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the US officials said.
Much of the deal has been agreed upon, a senior Biden administration official separately told reporters on Wednesday, but negotiators were still trying to hammer out solutions to two main obstacles.
Those are Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi corridor, a buffer zone in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, and the specific individuals who would be included in an exchange of Hamas hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israel, said the administration official, who declined to be identified.
‘Time’s up’
The first US official said a new draft accord could be produced next week or even sooner. “The feeling is the time is up. Don’t be surprised if you see (the revised draft) this weekend,” that official said.
The administration official said Hamas’ killing of six hostages, whose bodies were returned to Israel over the weekend, complicated the effort. “We all feel the urgency,” the administration official said.
CIA director William Burns, the lead US negotiator, heads the small group of senior US officials working on the draft which includes White House coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first US official said.
“There is a very strong perception on the part of the negotiators that the ceasefire is slipping away,” the first US official said, underscoring the urgency underpinning the effort.
Since Blinken’s latest tour of the region last month failed to produce a breakthrough, mediators have kept up working-level discussions, and those talks are continuing, the first US official said.
Not take it or leave it
The Egyptian sources said the United States was shifting from a more consultative approach to trying to impose a ceasefire plan on the parties.
Both US officials said the revised plan would not be a final take-it-or-leave it offer and that Washington would continue working towards a ceasefire if it fell through.
On Tuesday, five Arab countries including regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia as well as the Palestinian Authority joined Egypt in rejecting Israel’s demand to keep its troops deployed in the Philadelphi corridor. On Wednesday, Turkiye issued a similar statement.
Parts of the three-phase agreement already accepted by both sides require Israel to withdraw from all densely populated areas of Gaza in the first phase of the deal.
The senior administration official said the current dispute is whether the corridor qualifies as a densely populated area.
The US group is considering areas of the Philadelphi corridor where Israeli troops would have to withdraw and areas where they could stay, the first US official said.
At talks in Qatar on Monday, an Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea told mediators that Israel was willing to withdraw its troops from the corridor after the first 42-day phase of a ceasefire, the official with knowledge of the talks said.
But hours later Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi corridor.
